1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to methods and design of optical bio-discs for the detection, and for quantitative and qualitative analysis of bindable substances. More specifically, this invention is directed to methods and apparatus for detection and quantification of bindable substances through affinity reaction with a solid phase linked binding substance. The solid phase is preferably provided by the surface of an optical bio-disc, which carries the immobilized binding reagent and encoded information for performing the analysis. The analyte of interest is carried within fluidic circuits of the optical bio-disc. Separation of bound analyte from free analytes may be performed using centrifugal force imparted by rotating the optical bio-disc.
2. Optical Bio-Discussion of the Related Art
The detection and quantification of analytes in the blood or other body fluids are essential for diagnosis of diseases, elucidation of the pathogenesis, and for monitoring the response to drug treatment. Traditionally, diagnostic assays are performed in laboratories by trained technicians using complex apparatus. Performing these assays is usually time-consuming and costly. Thus, there is a significant need to make diagnostic assays and forensic assays of all types faster and more local to the end-user. Ideally, clinicians, patients, investigators, the military, other health care personnel, and consumers should be able to test themselves for the presence of certain risk factors or disease indicators in their systems, and to test for the presence of certain biological material at a crime scene or on a battlefield. At present, there are a number of medical diagnostic, silicon-based, devices with nucleic acids and/or proteins attached thereto that are commercially available or under development. These chips are not for use by the end-user, or for use by persons or entities lacking very specialized expertise and expensive equipment.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,581 entitled “Laboratory in a Disk” issued Feb. 29, 2000 (the '581 patent) is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The '581 patent optical bio-discloses an apparatus that includes an optical bio-disc, adapted to be read by an optical reader, which has a sector having a substantially self-contained assay system useful for localizing and detecting an analyte suspected of being in a sample.